The Issues
Water
Melissa Hurtado understands that a clean and reliable water supply is essential for Valley families and our agricultural economy. She is running for Congress to improve our water delivery systems and ensure safe and dependable water supplies.
In the State Senate, Melissa won $200 million to repair California’s water conveyance canals that deliver drinking water to communities and sustain the state’s leading agricultural economy.
She co-authored and helped shape the Safe and Affordable Clean Drinking Water Act and secured $15 million to address failing water systems to deliver safe and clean drinking water to communities in the southern Central Valley.
Senator Hurtado also worked to obtain $130 million in yearly state funding to secure safe drinking water in our most vulnerable communities.
To strengthen protections for access to safe and affordable water, Senator Hurtado sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland urging an investigation and greater transparency to prevent fraud and market manipulation
In Congress, Melissa Hurtado will build on her record as fierce advocate for the Valley who can deliver real results to improve the Valley’s water supplies.
Education
For Melissa Hurtado, a good education opened the door for opportunity and a college degree.
She’s running for Congress to continue her advocacy for more school funding, career technical education programs that provide job training and curriculums to prepare our students for college.
In the State Senate, Melissa Hurtado secured $9.9 million to establish regional pipelines for students to enter medical school.
She won $2 million for Career Technical Education Funding for Kern and Fresno Counties Community Colleges.
And Melissa donated $80,000 to establish the Central Valley Dream Scholarship which provided $1,000 to nearly 80 students in the southern Central Valley for educational expenses in the 2020-21 school year.
In Congress Melissa Hurtado will be a tireless advocate for our schools to ensure that the Valley gets its fair share of education funding to prepare our children for the future.
Healthcare
After college Melissa Hurtado returned home to Valley where she worked as a health care advocate enrolling patients in health care plans for the first time in their lives under the Affordable Care Act. She advocated for lower prescription drug costs and expanding in-home services for our seniors.
Melissa also worked as organizer for Planned Parenthood to protect reproductive freedom and expand access to healthcare. In the State Senate, she helped put Prop 1 on the California ballot which enshrines the right to an abortion and contraception in the state constitution.
Melissa’s work in the State Senate also includes winning $2 million for the Valley Fever Institute at Kern Medical Center and $15 million to ensure vulnerable communities have access to asthma prevention services, education and support.
Believing it’s important to invest in our own, Senator Hurtado won funding for a regional educational pipeline to help Valley students enter medical school.
Senator Hurtado’s passion for improving healthcare runs deep. In Congress she will fight to protect Medicare, bring more health care professionals to Valley and to keep life-saving drug costs low.
Public Safety
Melissa Hurtado has been at the forefront to keep our communities safe.
In the wake of California’s continuing wildfire season, Senator Hurtado won $25 million for a regional Fire Training Center in the Valley and additional $80 million for Valley firefighters, emergency response and law enforcement.
She worked across party lines to toughen penalties for human traffickers and fought against the early release of violence criminals.
Senator Hurtado also passed an important law to help prevent fentanyl overdoses and save lives.
In Congress, Melissa Hurtado will prioritize public safety fighting for more resources for emergency response, fire safety and law enforcement.
Immigration
As the daughter of immigrant parents, Melissa Hurtado is strongly committed to creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants across the United States.
In the State Senate, Melissa has been an advocate to expand healthcare access, protect our DREAMers and provide for immigrant families.
Last year, Senator Hurtado successfully expanded access to food assistance to older undocumented immigrants and is working to expand eligibility for state funded nutrition benefits to undocumented immigrants of all ages because she believes it is unacceptable that 2 in 5 undocumented immigrants and nearly two-thirds of undocumented children live in a food insecure household.
Melissa Hurtado will work to fix our broken immigration system, keep families together and create a pathway to citizenship for immigrants.